The first thing people say when you tell them you want to work at home on your computer is:

1. Are you crazy? Nobody makes money online. You’re just going to lose money trying to learn how to make money online.

2. Don’t bother, the only people making money online are the people selling the “How to Make Money Online Books.”

In addition, they say, it’s way too risky, 95% of the businesses fail.

And you know what? That is true. But here are a couple of other facts. People do make money online, a lot of it. It’s in the billions as a matter of fact:

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, total Internet e-commerce sales for 2008 were $133.7 billion. Additionally, according to PricewaterhouseCooper LLP, for the year 2008, there was a total of $23.4 billion generated by Internet advertising.”

So the money is there.

And speaking of risk? There is very little to none. It’s just the opposite. The big risk is in the brick and mortar world.

Think about it, the amount of money you have to invest for advertising, rent and education is staggering.

My daughter-in-law is a bookkeeper making an average paycheck and she had to go to school for two years just to get a better than average job. Later, when she got her B.A., she made a lot more money, but that was another two years and thousands of dollars later.

Not only that, she still had to work for someone before she could start her own business, plus it took quite some time. And that’s because the competition is fierce. It’s just as tough as online–it doesn’t matter what business–nails, massage, photography, music etc.

But here’s the thing, it’s less risky in the online world–no rent to speak of, and advertising plus marketing-you do it all yourself, that’s part of the learning process.

If you’ve got start-up money, better yet, you can outsource it. That’s the big thing today. But beware if you outsource it before you know how to do it yourself. You just might not know how to manage someone else doing it for you.

Why not take the time to learn marketing?

So here it is, I’ll get right down to it: The three ways for you to learn how to make money. That’s right, I said learn how to make money, not make money.

If you make money, good, but the point is to learn how to get the infrastructure in place and practice doing it until you’re successful. It may take a few times until you get the hang of it.

But I want to add a small caveat here: and that is to put an emphasis on trying different strategies and making mistakes.

Why?

Because you’ll learn faster. Not only learn faster, but you will get used to self-correcting more often. And that will make the road to success faster and easier.

With practice, there will come a time when you will learn how to advertise, market and sell your product or service. But beware; there is a long learning curve here. Take your time, make mistakes and learn along the way.

Now, for those things you can do to make money.

1. Sell the junk you have in your attic and back yard on eBay. That’s right, you’ve got a digital camera, the info is free–get going.

2. If you like to write, take pictures or draw, why not sell that service? Check Google for the services you are passionate about. You’d be surprised at how many there are. And yes, you’ll have to work for a lot less until you get established but there isn’t much of a risk there either, since you’re not putting money into the business.

3. Sell other peoples’ products. This is a very good way to make money for people who like to shop. Essentially, you talk about why you like the product and you’d be surprised how many people will be drawn in to you. Resellers or affiliate marketers make good money too. Some, make as high as 50 to 60 per cent.

Most of all, what you want to do is listen, read and watch videos to learn how to market and advertise. You can get an invaluable education online–for free–don’t underestimate it.

Even if your first project fails–and it most likely will–you are learning. And if you are sincere and keep trying, sooner or later you will sell a product. And when you do, you’ll have the recipe to sell another one. Or better yet, start another line of products.

And here’s the best part: you can do it in relative obscurity. Taking rejection person to person is brutal.

Use the same learning process for building lists, emailing, and writing ads etc. There’s a lot there, but it’s doable if you want it bad enough. Once you have it, you know how to take a product or service – any time -and launch a successful campaign.

And how good is that?

What kind of an education is that? What kind of security is that? What kind of success is that?

But most of all what kind of person are you now?

Quick recap:

1. People really make money online (in the billions).

2. Making money online is less risky than making it offline.

3. The learning curve for making money online is not difficult but it does require a long time to set up the infrastructure and practice the marketing strategies.

4. Once you get this learning down though, it’s good for life. You can do it again and again. It’s true financial independence.

5. Not only will you be enriched materially, you will also be enriched knowing you are your own boss calling all the shots.

Enough said. So what are you waiting for?